Devil’s claw is a flowering plant that in the sesame family with a long history of use in traditional medicine.
Historically, the plant has been used historically for atherosclerosis, arthritis, gout, muscle pain (myalgia), back pain, fibromyalgia, tendonitis, chest pain, gastrointestinal (GI) upset or heart burn, fever, and migraine headache. It is also used for difficulties in childbirth, menstrual problems, allergic reactions, loss of appetite, and kidney and bladder disease.
One of the more popular uses is for relieving back pain and pain from osteoarthritis.
The class of compounds that appears to offer the anti-inflammatory properties are known as iridoid glycosides.
Here are more articles about plant medicine and inflammation.
How safe is Devil’s claw?
Devil’s claw has been evaluated by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products Committee (HMPC) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and here is what they concluded.
HMPC which concluded that “on the basis of its long‐standing use, devil’s claw root preparations can be used for the relief of minor joint pain”
In double‐blind trials, the incidence of adverse effects was similar to placebo.
Here is what the authors of a paper had to say about the safety of Devil’s Claw
“Minor adverse events occurred in around 3% of the patients, mainly gastrointestinal adverse events. A few reports of acute toxicity were found, despite there being no reports on chronic toxicity. The authors concluded that the incidence of adverse events is very low, although more safety studies, especially for long‐term safety, are needed.”
Reference:
Devil’s Claw (Harpagophytum Procumbens) and Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: A Concise Overview on Preclinical and Clinical Data. Phytotherapy Research. 2019 Sep;33(9):2152-2162. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6395.
His research on plant medicine has led to more than 45 publications and abstracts.This research has been presented at international meetings in the USA, France, Turkey, Peru, Israel, Austria, and Italy.
Categories: Antioxidant, Arthritis, Inflammation, Plant Medicine
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